Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1887-06-26

HOSE BATTLE FLA6S.
When making mp our judgment on an
important matter it il better TO be cool
than excited. The mere partisan sei1es
every opportunity to create political cap
ital and will use this battle flag incident
as . stepping stone to the attainment OF
his personal ambition. Bat the thought
full American citizen, whose motto is
with malice toward none, with char
ity for all, and who wishes to form IN
opinion from cold facts rather than hot
prejudices, will look twice before he leaps
to . conclusion.
Let rs take q quiet view Of the situs-
tion. A large number Of flags, riddled
with bulless-proof of an unparalleled
struggle in which the South stoutly de-
Tended them, but were compelled to give
way to the all conquering onset Of the
Boys in Blue-were placed for safe keep
ing in charge OF the United States War
Department. They were the sacred
relics of a frAtricidal contest which left
behind it > million graves. They had
and always viii have a value not to be
measured by bullion. bat by the IN
quenched and ~unqueuchable spirit of
patriotism which summoned our fathers
and sons, and even oar sisters and wives,
to the battle field to do and die in de-
Tense of the best government the sun
ever shone upon.
These tattered battle flags, some Of
them borne by Northern troops. many Of
them wrested from Southern regiments,
were for q time on exhibition in the Win
ter building in Washington. For nearly
. score Of years they were q Of the
chief attractions in the Capital Of the
country. Old soldiers sought out and
with flashing eyes recounted the scenes
which in this h~urrying age are rapidly
fading from the nations memory, 10 be
preserved, however, on the glowing page
Of history. Strangers from abroad gazed
upon them as proof of the ability of a
people without . standing army to create
an army of volunteers by q magic un-
known in other countries and to protect
their institutions at all hazards.
At last, however, these battle flags
were packed away in boxes and stored
in cellar or attic, where access TO them
was impossible. The time had arrived
when the spirit Of Charles Summers
resolution in the Senate, that sit is
inexpedient that the names Of victories
obtained over our fellow citizens should
be placed on the regimental colors of the
United States" began to dissipate the
fierce animosities engendered by war.
Sumner read the problem Alright, but he
was twenty years ahead of his time. He
saw, and we all see it now, that . mag
unanimous victor can afford to forget;
that if North and South are to stand
shoulder to shoulder in the coming gen.
erations the fiery and terrible memories
of the past must be obliterated by the
loyalty that was born when the family
quarrel came to an end.
That same policy way adopted by Mr..
Cleveland. But heY too, is possibly
ahead Of his time. When the national
drill occurred in Washington and he saw
Northern and Southern soldiers drawn
up in line together the scene itself sug-
gested the action which he afterward
took. He saw the representatives of the
whole country from the lakes to the Gulf
march in review. Sectional differences
had disappeared forever. Mason and
Dixon's line no longer existed. Slavery
had been extinguished. North and
South stood for liberty and Union, one
and inseparable, now and forever"
1t was a plan worthy of the President
of a united people. 1t had its origin in
that prescience which takes in the future
and would prepare to itly welcome it.
1t reminds us of the words of Grant on
his deathbed: 81 feel that we are on
the eve Of a new era. when there is to
be great harmony between the Federal
and the Confederate. I cannot stay to
be a living witness to the correctness of
this prophecy, but l feel it within me
that it is to be SO. Let US
have peace. New York Herald.